Make Way on the Electric Highway for Mercedes Benz’s New EQC SUV

Coming to an outlet near you in 2020

September 7, 2018 9:00 am

Remember 2010?

The only person you knew with an electric car was Nissan Leaf guy. He was also probably first to the Trader Joe’s beat.

Almost a decade — and a laundry list of government fuel-economy mandates — later, the electric car industry is ubiquitous, competitive and creative. Up to and including Mercedes Benz, who announced their first all-electric SUV earlier this week in Stockholm.

The EQC SUV is Mercedes’s rival to the Tesla Model X, a vehicle that simulates all-wheel drive thanks to electric drivetrains at each axle. It boasts 400 HP, can hit 60 MPH in five seconds while traveling an estimated 279 miles on its 80-kWh lithium-ion battery. Forty minutes of plug-time using its 7.4-kW onboard charger should juice the car up to 80%.

eqc suv (4 images)

How does all that compare to the Model X? Tesla might not know its surfboards or wireless phone chargers, but its electric SUV boasts some serious performance specs — a reported 295 miles off its 100-kWh battery, and 0-60 in 4.7 seconds. Naturally, on some level and for a certain consumer, all these specs boil down to semantics. It might be easier to compare dashboard tech (the EQC SUV includes a healthy infotainment system) or exterior lines (the Tesla hams it up a bit more, the EQC would fit in fine at a grocery store parking lot). But the level of competition alone is a testament to how far the electric market and our collective appetite for it have grown. Expect to grow equally acquainted with similar models from all the other major marques over the next eight years.

Find more information on the EQC here, and expect it to arrive in showrooms sometime in 2020.

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